Travel by Javelin: benefit from high speed

As soon as I found myself planning to attend an event at the British Library, which is adjacent to London St Pancras, I decided it would be an ideal opportunity for me to try out South Eastern’s  new domestic Javelin high speed rail service. It started operating a permanent full daily timetable at the beginning of this week, following several months of less frequent ‘preview’ services on weekdays only.

What’s new?

The new services allow for better use to be made of High Speed One, Britain’s first and only high speed rail line,  linking London to the Channel Tunnel, and on to Paris and Brussels. Previously it was only accessible to international travellers using Eurostar services to Calais, Lille, Paris or Brussels.

Javelin trains have brought a dramtic reduction in domestic journey times between London and large swathes of Kent, making commuting from and visiting the ‘Garden of England’  a much more attractive proposition on new or upgraded track. Ashford is now down to a journey time of 37 minutes from London St Pancras; and passengers from Ebbsfleet International can make the trip to St Pancras or vice versa in under 20 minutes. It’s also now possible for domestic rail passengers to interchange with international services in Ebbsfleet International for the first time, in addition to Ashford International.

Javelins are now operating beyond Ebbsfleet International, to Gravesend, the Medway towns where Charles Dickens grew up (Strood, Rochester,  Chatham, Gillingham and Rainham) and continue down the north Kent coast to Sittingbourne, the foodie haven of Faversham, and stations to Margate and Broadstairs, including trendy Whitstable and more sedate Herne Bay. Taking the high speed line to Ashford, Javelins now continue beyond it to the World Heritage city of Canterbury(West), Ramsgate, Broadstairs and Margate; or Folkestone, and Dover. More information about visiting Kent.

Javelin timetable information

What’s different about the trains?

Once you activate and enter inside sliding doors, you’lll find smart dove grey and Air Force blue interiors with concealed lighting and overhead digital information signs updating you with information about the next station stop and connecting services, in addition to audible information announcements. Plush comfortable seats are set two by two each side of a central aisle. I particularly noticed almost half in the less popular backward facing position in my carriage. There are relatively shallow overhead luggage racks above the seating,  some space for luggage under seats, and at least one open storage rack in each carriage as well.

Currently it is not possible to make seat reservations, although I noticed an electronic system in place on the outside wall above each row of seats, to make it possible in the future.  Ticket checks were made on both legs of my particular journey. As far as I was aware there were no refreshments on offer on the train.

My opinion

As expected, both my journeys were fast, smooth and comfortable, with  smooth acceleration and braking, and no noticeable vibration, even when the train reached its top speed of 140mph/225.3kph. There are 200 Javelin services running each weekday, with a reduced service at weekends. Neither of the trains I travelled on were crowded.

In addition to making it easier for visitors to travel in comfort and style to or from 21 stations in Kent, the new service has the added advantage of making it much easier for passengers planning to travel to the north of Britain on the east coast line, to places like Leeds, Tyneside, Edinburgh or anywhere else served by rail from London St Pancras or adjacent Kings Cross. This also applies if your journey starts in the north or east of England and you’re journeying in the opposite direction to Kent. The high speed service  arrives and departs from Platforms 11-13 at London St. Pancras. To find it simply follow the signs for ‘National Rail’ and you’ll find you ascend to these platforms by escalator or lift/elevator.

On a north Kent Javelin journey from Margate, the Javelin trains only join the high-speed line at Ebbsfleet, west of Gravesend, for the final 20 miles into London, so the time saving benefits of  using the high speed services does lessen as you go further east. Services via Ashford will however run on the high-speed line for longer, and will be quicker than existing services, with  the journey from Dover  shorter by 15 minutes, and Canterbury shorter by 23 minutes, compared to other routes.

Another consideration, whichever direction you’re travelling in, is that if the high speed route is a travel option for your particular journey between Kent and Edinburgh in Scotland, the north east, or east of England, you’ll find it’s no longer necessary to endure the hassle of travel across London by bus, tube or taxi! This alone can shave an hour off your total journey time, which is another great reason to travel by Javelin. Try it soon. In many cases it’s worth the small premium on the cost of the regular service. I shall certainly use it again.

Javelin trains are also going to be used to transport people travelling to London 2012, with the Olympic Park at Stratford International, the intermediate stop between Ebbsfleet and St Pancras, just a few hundred metres away from the station. Watch the video.

Until next time…

Time to re-evaluate Charles Dickens ?

This week I was in Regent Street on the very evening that there was a co-ordinated switch on of London’s Christmas lights, across the West End and City, by the stars of Walt Disney Pictures ‘A Christmas Carol’, adapted from the Christmas story written by Charles Dickens in 1843.

There was no missing the giant silver illuminated stars which hung across the road, right down its length. The Regent Street lights were  switched on by Colin Firth, while Jim Carrey presided over similar celebrations in nearby Oxford Street.  It all coincided with the world premiere of this latest Hollywood adaptation of a work by Dickens, in Leicester Square, which was transformed into a winter wonderland especially for the event.

What makes Dickens relevant today?

The plots and characters of Dickens’s novels continue to resonate with today’s audiences, in spite of well over a century passing since the great author’s untimely death from a stroke in June 1870, at the age of 58. Many contemporary authors can only dream of emulating such long term international success.   Allow me to explain why I believe that in 2012, the bicentenary of his birth on Friday 7th February 1812, you can expect to hear almost as much about Dickens, as about London 2012. Here’s why.

Secrets of Dickens’s lasting popularity

• His works have stood the test of time and have never gone out of print
• He created a plethora of memorable characters
• He succeeds in creating pictures in the reader’s imagination with words
• He associated his key characters with memorable catch phrases
• He published his novels in serialised form to make them more accessible.
• He worked hard to promote his works in person, at public readings.
• He felt strongly and spoke up about social issues still relevant today
• His works have been widely translated and frequently used as set texts by students of English in the non Anglophone world
• The compelling storylines of his novels continue to stimulate  adaptations for television, theatre and cinema audiences

My involvement with Dickens 2012

The Mayor of London, Film London and the Charles Dickens Museum chose  the day of the Disney world premiere to announce Dickens 2012.  Planning for a major international celebration of events and activities to coincide with the bicentenary is already well underway.

This is a project in which I’m already actively involved, having recently been commissioned to research  the many Dickensian connections of Kent and Medway.  I hope to continue my involvement and lend  support to the county’s plans to launch Dickens’s country in time for 2012.

How I became a fan of Dickens

Co-incidentally, like Dickens himself, I was born in Portsmouth; but I actually became a fan largely as a result of being introduced to his works by a marvellously enthusiastic primary school English teacher, who always used passages from his novels whenever she set her class exercises in reading aloud, comprehension or dictation. This soon got me hooked into reading his novels.

Dickens in Kent

Dickens spent his formative childhood years (1817-22) in the Medway towns of Chatham and Rochester, which his friend and biographer John Forster described as ‘the birthplace of his fancy’. It was in Rochester where he first encountered the theatre, which was also to become an important influence in his life.

Contrary to popular perception,  his gimlet eye also concerned itself with observing life in the English countryside, as well as with urban life and social deprivation. Descriptions from his correspondence, work as a journalist and works of fiction, all demonstrate his enduring love of Kentish countryside and coast. Furthermore, he chose to honeymoon at Chalk near Gravesend, spent many summer holidays in Broadstairs; and used Kent as a setting for much of the action in both ‘David Copperfield’ and ‘Great Expectations’. Incidentally, it was recently announced that a new movie adaptation of the latter, to be produced by Stephen Wooley and Elizabeth Karlsen,  is scheduled to start production in London in 2010.

Dickens returned to Kent in later life, to live close to where he had grown up, finally succeeding, in 1856, in buying Gad’s Hill Place, a red brick Georgian mansion atop the North Downs above Rochester, long after first admiring it as a child, while accompanying his father on long country walks from the family home in Chatham.

Read ‘A Christmas Carol’ for yourself, and you will find Ebenezer Scrooge being taken by the Ghost of Christmas Past to a ‘little market town’ and then a school, from his boyhood, which from the descriptions sound remarkably like Rochester and Gad’s Hill Place, which remains as a school today. Here’s a wonderful later description by Dickens of Gad’s Hill, taken from ‘The Uncommercial Traveller’ (186o):

‘I have my eye upon a piece of Kentish road, bordered on either side by a wood, and having on one hand, between the road-dust and the trees, a skirting patch of grass. Wild flowers grow in abundance on this spot, and it lies high and airy, with the distant river stealing steadily away to the ocean, like a man’s life. To gain the milestone here, which the moss, primroses, violets, blue-bells, and wild roses, would soon render illegible but for passing travellers pushing them aside with their sticks, you must come up a steep hill, come which way you may.’

Dickens lived through times of great change, experiencing first hand the effects of the industrial revolution;  and how the coming of the railways revolutionised long distance transportation, and had a positive effect on property prices.  Were he alive today, I’m sure he would have been excited by the communications opportunities presented by digital media. Expect to see lots of innovative methods being used to engage new audiences with the life, works and legacy of Charles Dickens, in 2012 and beyond.

Visiting Dickens festivals in Kent

Dickens would still be able to recognise many of the places he knew well in Kent, particularly Rochester, Canterbury and Broadstairs. Those seeking the ultimate Dickensian experience should time a visit during one of the Dickens festivals: Dickensian Christmas is held every December in Rochester, and summer festivals are held annually in both Broadstairs and  Rochester in June.

Until next week…

Living history: fancy dress or serious fun?

Living history defined

According to Wikipedia, ‘ Living history is an activity that incorporates historical tools, activities and dress into an interactive presentation that seeks to give observers and participants a sense of stepping back in time.’

I have to admit I that I used to be a little bit sceptical about living history. The concept of costumed actors re-enacting historical periods, events, or battles, and tribute bands blasting out hits from the past, stuck me as slightly cheesey, even although I was, and continue to be, full of admiration of the achievements of people like Walt Disney in pioneering wonderful theme parks, where adults and children alike can enjoy world class entertainment and experiences together; and I’ve been a fan of Walt Disney World in Florida from the moment I first visited it in 1981. But somehow I  couldn’t quite reconcile the concept and value of mixing genuine historic sites with people in fancy dress.

I feel reasonably well qualified to comment, since I’ve been on both sides of the fence:  as both presenter and voyeur.  I once dressed up as a saloon girl accompanying a Wells Fargo stage coach in the Lord Mayors Show, which takes place annually every November in London, as well as attending many living history presentations over the years

Transatlantic influences

Many years ago I visited the eastern seaboard of the USA with a group of friends.  We went on a road trip that took in, amongst other places,  Boston in Massachusetts and colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. As well as walking the Freedom Trail which links together revolutionary sites from the War of American Independence; there was no denying that it seemed a harmless bit of fun to photograph ourselves chucking a fake tea chest into Boston harbour during a recreation of the infamous Boston Tea Party. Incidentally, the replica ship where we enjoyed this re-enactment, the Beaver, and the associated museum, are currently closed, but scheduled to re-open after renovation in 2010.

Later on the same trip we visited colonial Williamsburg, in Virginia, and were frankly amazed at the money spent and the attention to detail lavished on this recreation of ‘living history’ in a colonial town, complete with costumed citizens and beautifully maintained buildings that didn’t even look particularly old to us! At the time, it just seemed all seemed like fun and frivolous tourist entertainment, of a type rarely found back in 1970s Europe. Frivolity was frowned on in our historic visitor attractions during this period! It took a while for the interactivity and animatronics pioneered at the likes of Walt Disney World and Universal Studios to filter across ‘the pond’ to European visitor attractions.

Why I changed my opinion

Gradually over the decades I’ve changed my position on living history.  There was no denying that medieval banquets, complete with costumed hosts and waiting staff, pioneered in the 1970s and still held today at places like the Beefeater by the Tower in London, Ruthin Castle in Wales and Dalhousie Castle in Scotland, were, and remain, popular with international visitors to Britain; and the Civil War battles recreated by groups like the Sealed Knot continue to attract increasing numbers of spectators. It all was, and still is, undoubtedly good for business. But were the particiants just having fun dressing up, and were spectators just enjoying the spectacle; were the costumes and props authentic, and was there any lasting value to be derived from the exercise , I wondered?

Like everything else, I’m glad to notice that living history has moved with the times. I’ve become convinced that it now meets the increasing expectations of today’s more demanding consumers, taking it beyond simple spectacle and entertainment. I’m delighted to see it  has now been adopted, big time in the UK, by key players like English Heritage, and the Historic Royal Palaces, and the education and outreach departments of museums, who research the costumes and props to ensure authenticity, and run educational sessions for the younger generation, led by professional actors, in schools. Culture 24 is a good place to start when searching for more information.

Serious TV history programmes also now use re-enactments extensively, a trend pioneered by scholars such as Simon Schama and David Starkey, who have both done more than their fair share to popularise the genre. All this activity has brought living history into the mainstream, which I think is great.

My recent journey through living history

To give you an idea of the sophistication of presentation now available, I’ll outline some of the most recent events I’ve attended:

I’ve watched a recreation of the Battle of Hastings at Battle, complete with blow by blow commentary; and enjoyed a guided walk of the battlefield, laid on beforehand, which explained the respective strategies of the Saxons and Normans as the battle unfolded, which greatly increased my appreciation and enjoyment of the event itself.

I’ve attended the Military Odyssey held annually at Detling, Kent which is the largest multi period event of its type in the world. Here as well as seeing living history ‘performances’ in the arena, you can meet participants, some of whom also make and/or sell the relevant period props and costumes, if you want to get personally involved.

Living history presentations are now popping up all over Europe. By way of illustration, my son and I stumbled across a medieval Christmas re-enactment at Esslingen just outside Stuttgart, in Germany, when we decided to visit the Christmas market there.

More recently I went to see a performance of ‘As You Like it’ at the recreated Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London, and attended a pre-performance lecture by a professor of English Literature from UCL. This experience really helped engage my interest, and increased my enjoyment so much that I felt inspired to buy fridge magnets featuring pertinent Shakespearean quotes, from the shop!

In the last week I’ve been on a visit to to Hampton Court. I didn’t book anything in advance; but while there I saw the characters pictured above  wandering around, and impulsively joined with my friends, in a living history programme which proved most enjoyable. I got swept up in active participation in the planning and preparations for the ‘wedding of Henry VIII and Catherine Parr’ and was among those offered an opportunity to attend a most informative lecture and interactive demonstration of  Tudor dress given by the two actors, who performed ‘in character’ throughout.

So as you can see, I’ve seen the light since my early Boston Tea Party experience.   For me ‘living history’  has truly arrived. It can enhance the visitor experience at historic sites, as well as creating world class visual spectacle and entertainment that stands up to scholarly scrutiny.

I would urge anyone in the tourism industry who provides accommodation for visitors  to make a point of checking out dates for events when living history experiences are  offered, whether at their local English Heritage sites, or at any other location. Guests are likely to thank them for the recommendation.  Speaking personally one of my favourite events is the Dickensian Christmas Festival of Rochester, that comes up annually in December ; but that’s another story…

Until next time…